Our RGC group’s book 5 was Claire Fuller’s Swimming Lessons.
RGC Group: Thanks so much for answering our questions. We loved your book and we were all drawn into the story immediately. It was a fun discussion.
RGC: Did Gil find all of the letters from Ingrid or just the portion we saw? Were there others?
Claire Fuller: Well,
Our RGC group’s book 4 was Claire Cameron’s The Last Neanderthal.
RGC: We all thoroughly enjoyed this book, and the conversations it sparked were so interesting! Everyone is planning to read other books related to the book and ideas, and other books mentioned in the back, which is always great to see! Thanks so much to Claire for answering our questions!
Claire Cameron: I loved this interview, thank you. It’s so much fun to be a part of a conversation.
A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride
Our RGC group’s book 3 was Eimear McBride’s A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing. Eimear recently published her second novel, The Lesser Bohemians.
For many of our group members this was the first time reading a novel written with a lyric prose style so we discussed writing style as much as the story itself. The book brought up many important and timely issues to discuss: gender, power, trauma, individuality and perception,
The Thing About Jellyfish
by Ali Benjamin
Our RGC group’s second book was Ali Benjamin’s The Thing About Jellyfish. This was our group’s first “young adult” book, and while the setting took us back to middle school memories (some fond, some not so fond), the issues and struggles were ageless. We had a very interesting discussion about grief, individuality, friendship, bullying, and the different actions that can be used in place of words. And Ali kindly agreed to answer a few questions for us!
Thank you James Hannah, author of The A to Z of You and Me for the wonderful Skype Chat with The Wanderers!
A Note From the Wanderers:
In 2013 our ten members met at the local library and decided to organize the North Versailles Book Club. Even though we have different backgrounds (Artists, Teacher, Salesman, Homemaker, Minister, Business Owner and administrative assistant), we have one thing in common: our love of reading. Our meetings are held the first Friday of the month at a local family restaurant.
We were more than pleased to recommend Belle Boggs’ nonfiction book, The Art of Waiting: On Fertility, Medicine, and Motherhood, in Reading Group Choices 2017 so we were excited to find out that Belle would be speaking at the Decatur Book Festival where RGC had a booth. And it was even more special because it was Belle’s first event for the book!
The Art of Waiting includes Belle’s personal experience struggling with infertility, but it also explores the cultural, psychological, and political views on fertility. Belle uses other people’s varied experiences (IVF,
